Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:47 am Post subject: Excited Poos, Happy Wees, Stress Dandruff and other Oddities
I was thinking about all the little snippets of knowledge my dogs have taught me over the years and how they could be of use to any newbies. I realised there are loads of seemingly unrelated things which dogs do, which must be a complete mystery to any as yet undoggy person.
For instance....
Excited Poos.
Now I'm not saying this is the scientific reason behind this, but I reckon as most dogs become excited or stressed, they get a bit of an adrenaline rush. This in turn causes their metabolism to run faster, which makes their gut push their food through quicker. Then because the food hasn't been digested properly, it comes out the other end runnier than usual. I find most of my dogs, especially when they are young, start off doing firm poos, but as they get excited, it gets runnier and if they get very excited or stressy, they can do several rather sloppy ones. This has nothing to do with their food, or having a bug/upset tum, as they seem to go straight back to normal, the moment the excitement or stress is reduced.
Happy Wees.
We've all seen it or had it happen. Little pup comes running towards you, wagging it tail frantically, goes all grovelly, grovelly then leaves a trail of wee behind it, or if you're really unlucky, it flips over, belly side up and pees like a fountain. This has absolutely nothing to do with housetraining and everything to do with the pup being young and submissive. It's like it's their way of saying "I'm only a baby, please don't hurt me". Most grow out of it as their confidence grows, although some really submissive dogs will still do it if they feel threatened. I'm not sure they are conscious of doing it, as it appears to be an involuntary let down of urine.....and telling them off for it, only ever makes matters worse.
Stress Dandruff.
It's not something I've noticed on any other colour but black dogs (for obvious reasons), but all of my blacks have been able to produce dandruff at the drop of a hat, the moment they are stressed. Now why this is, I have no idea. No doubt it has a purpose, but I fail to see it (any clues?) but yet again, it does seem to be normal and nothing to do with food or skin condition, as they can go back to normal almost straight away after the stress has gone.
There must be loads of other Oddities you folks can think of. So if you know any, perhaps add them here, then we can all Ooooo and Ahhhhh over them , as all of a sudden light is thrown onto something that's been bothering us.
Harry went through a phase of 'excitement wees' when he was about 18 months old or so. Greeting people or other dogs he would leave a trail of wee.
I was starting to worry about kidney or bladder trouble or something but the vet said it was probably just a 'phase' and it should stop. It did but it lasted a few weeks. It hasn't happened since.
Unfortunately Hollie wees when she is in a strange house but that is another story.
Jules this is a really useful post, as these are exactly the things that worry new owners. I know that when I was walking Usher (GD pup) that he really didnt like stairs to begin with. So much so that after doing a little bit of stair work (all positive, just a couple of stairs, loads of treats etc etc) he always used to have a sloppy poo. Not good when you are hoping for a 'clean' training walk.
However knowing that it was caused by a little bit of stress over the stairs meant that I could deal with it, and in the end it was decided that it was just that particular set of stairs he didnt like, he was fine on all the others.
So its not just excitement, it can be a bit of stress too that causes a sloppy poo.
Can you add to your list please, 8'oclock zoomies, some time in the evening all my dogs and pups have had a mad half an hour, literally bum tucking round the garden, kitchen, lounge etc etc. I used to think that they were having some sort of reaction to their food as it happened 4 hours after their tea. But nope..its just that last blast before bed time! It doesnt matter either if they have just come in from a long walk either, 8pm on the dot it happens!
Not much experience of happy wees but have certainly seen the excited poos and stress dandruff, though I have seen dandruff appear in excitement as well as upsetting stress.
Will also mention hackles as I have seen a few posts on here before from people worried that their dog's hackles rising is a sign of aggression, but hackles can rise for reasons such as fear and excitement.
Minnie's hackles rise at times when she is bounding around the field playing with her brother and having a fantastic time
One link I have read says "Piloerection [hackles rising] can be caused by excitement, stimulation, arousal, being startled, fear or interest."
Great post Jules, I have had dogs that do "Happy Wees", none that have done sloppy poos other than when they`ve eaten something disgusting (to me anyway )
The dandruff thing I have noticed on CJ who is of course a dark colour, have to say I`ve often wondered why, its just appeared and seems to go just as quickly, will have to keep a closer eye and work out if something stressful has happened, although he`s so laid back I don`t think he knows what stress is
We definately get excited poos! Although unfortunately I have to disagree with your adrenaline theory... Excitement is most likely linked to the fight/flight response - going back to before domestication when prey animals would flee trouble whereas predators would stand up and fight. The sympathetic nervous system controls this mechanism and is responsible for the release of adrenaline (epinephrine) into the blood. Adrenaline ups the Heart Rate so blood is circulated quicker around the body to get more oxygenated blood to the muscles. At the same time it inhibits peristalsis in the gut and there is vasoconstriction of the vessels supplying the gut and digestion is down regulated. After the parasympathetic nervous system (rest/digest) takes over again and brings the heart rate back down through the use of acetylcholine and up regulates digestion again. What this means for excitable pooing I'm not reallly sure? Just thought you might like to know it's not directly related to adrenaline...
I hope I've explained that clearly and haven't gone too techincal for anyone
Theo is also a hackle raiser, especially when he gets into proper play! So much that people sometimes look worried.We also used to get Janice's 8pm zoomies - as soon as he came in from his walk he'd charge round the lounge bouncing off the furniture for 10 minutes before crashing.
Great thread Especially as I seem to have forgotten everything about puppies since owning Cadbury and have been worrying over every little thing Merlin does.
Cadbury was great for the Excitement Poos and Happy Wees, in fact I still have to make sure he has an empty bladder before meeting new people
Merlin has been pretty good, but did do a poo with that gunk stuff at the end this morning - I went OMG, call the vets, etc, etc. Until I calmed down and decided it was most likely the stress of coming with Cadbury to obedience class yesterday and trying out some new treats.
Is a useful nugget of information 'Tired Wees'? Cadbury had this trouble and Merlin is the same. When really tired they can't seem to remember where to 'go' and so have an accident where they are standing. They don't even seem to notice.
Cadbury once was so tired he was sitting down and this puddle expanded around him. He was too sleepy to even stand up. I thought at first it was a house-training problem, but really its just because little pups get tired and can't control themselves.
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but that is another story.
